The Twinkle Old Jack's Boat

Hello there. How are you today?

Salty and I have a tale or two to tell you about this beach

and the rockpools

and all the magical things that have happened here.

# Come with me, we're off to the sea

# To where I used to play

# Looking back when I was a boy and the fun we had each day

# Over the cobbles and through the streets

# Playing in the sun

# Friends to meet with games and treats

# Adventures just begun

# Stories from a magical world

# Washed in by the sea

# Meet the rockpool creatures there

# It's amazing what you see

# Looking back when I was a boy

# Shrimps and starfish Crabs and snails

# In twinkly Rockpool Tales

Ha-ha!

# Those lovely Rockpool Tales. #

TOOT!

Ha-ha-ha. Oh, it's a twinkly, sunshiny sort of day today, Salty.

Oh, I've been using this old telescope to look at the sea.

You can see all sorts of twinkles out there today, Salty.

Oh, beautiful.

Ha-ha! Lovely.

Ah, you like the waves on the sea

when they twinkle, don't you, Salty?

Oh, I remember a story about the twinkles on the sea.

It all happened when I was a boy

in a twinkly time...long, long ago.

Ha-ha! I used to run down to the beach as often as I could,

meeting up with my best friends, Little Ernie and Little Sailor Sue.

One day, we were all standing at the water's edge with my old telescope.

Of course, it was new back then.

And we were taking it in turns to look at the waves on the sea.

-What do you think makes the waves twinkle?

-That's easy.

It's the sunlight on the waves that makes them twinkle.

But Ernie thought about this and then he said,

"Ah, but what makes them twinkle at night?"

That's easy. At night it's the light from the moon.

Then Sue took the telescope

and had a look through it at the rockpools.

Look, even the rockpools are twinkling in the sunlight.

And with that, we raced across the beach to look at the light

on the rockpools.

And as we gazed deep down into the glittery waters,

a magical world appeared before our eyes.

Swimming in the rockpool,

Belinda the Blenny saw a little flash of light.

It flitted around and disappeared - shwoop - behind a shell.

She went to investigate and, as she did so,

it popped out again and flitted off.

Belinda thought the little flash of light wanted to play,

so she dashed after it.

She chased it through the slippery seaweed,

past the coloured pebbles and up to the surface of the sunny rockpool.

And there, it settled on a rock.

Belinda swam over to have a closer look.

She wanted to know what this little flash of light was.

"That is a twinkle," said a low voice.

It was Reginald the Great Wise Limpet.

"Hello, little twinkle," said Belinda quietly.

As she spoke, the little twinkle's light started to fade,

then got brighter, and then faded again, as if it was tired.

There was a cloud passing over the sun, and when the sun disappears,

twinkles start to disappear, too.

Luckily, the cloud moved on

and the sun shone and the twinkle twinkled brightly again.

Belinda smiled. "I think it likes me," she said.

"Oh, I'm sure it does," said Reginald.

"Twinkles are very friendly."

"Where do twinkles come from?" asked Belinda.

Reginald came up with an answer.

Now, I'm not sure, Salty, that he actually knew,

but, nevertheless, Reginald answered Belinda's question.

"A twinkle factory. That's where they come from,"

Reginald said with confidence.

"The twinkles are made in a twinkle factory far, far out at sea.

"They pop up into the air, out of the factory's chimneys.

"When they fall back down again, they are scattered all over the sea.

"In fact, twinkles seem to get everywhere."

Well, Belinda thought that the twinkle factory sounded magical.

She looked over at the twinkle.

"I wonder if it wants to play chase again," she thought.

So, she wriggled over to the rock where the twinkle sat,

but, as she got close up to it - shwoop - it was off again.

It flickered across the watery surface of the rockpool,

then it dived down and disappeared

under the water.

"Hey-hey, little twinkle," laughed Belinda. "Come back!"

And she dashed after it, down into the rockpool.

Whoosh!

Belinda whooshed past, leaving a trail of bubbles behind her,

and then - whoosh - Belinda whooshed past

in the opposite direction,

leaving another trail of bubbles behind her.

"What was that?" laughed Andrew the Anemone.

"That was Belinda," said Sally the Starfish.

"Let's go and find out what she's doing."

Oh, so they both went off to find out.

And they found Belinda hiding behind a rock.

"Hi, Belinda," they said.

"Shush!" said Belinda. "I don't want to scare it away."

"Scare what away?" asked Andrew.

"That twinkle," said Belinda quietly.

Well, Sally and Andrew looked, and, sure enough,

there was a little twinkle sitting on an upturned seashell.

"We've been playing chase," said Belinda,

"but I haven't managed to catch it yet."

Sally saw the twinkle darting up the side of the rockpool.

"There it goes!" she said.

And the three friends chased the twinkle.

It whizzed here and there and up and down and round and about

but they couldn't catch that twinkle,

no matter how hard they tried.

"This is a brilliant game!" laughed Andrew, as they spun around.

And then - bop, bop, bop -

they all popped their heads out of the surface of the rockpool.

The little twinkle was sat on Reginald's head.

"Don't move!" called Belinda. "It's on your head!"

As Reginald looked up at the twinkle,

a cloud rolled over the sun

and the little twinkle faded, faded...

..and then disappeared.

Andrew, Sally and Belinda swam over.

"The twinkle's gone," said Belinda

in a little voice.

And she was right.

It had.

Andrew and Sally looked sad.

They'd enjoyed their game with the little twinkle.

Reginald looked at the three friends and smiled.

"I expect the twinkle factory will make another twinkle

"for you to chase," he said.

And at that moment, do you know what happened?

The cloud moved away,

leaving the sun in a clear blue sky shining down on the rockpool.

"There," said Reginald. "Now look behind you."

The three friends turned.

And dancing on the surface of the rockpool

were hundreds and hundreds of twinkles

all wanting to be chased.

Sally and Andrew whooped with delight

and they rushed off to continue their game.

Belinda stayed beside Reginald for a moment.

"Thank you, Reginald," she said.

"This has been the best day ever.

"Will you say thank you to the twinkle factory?"

"Of course I will," smiled Reginald.

And then Belinda dashed off to join the others.

We looked up from the rockpool.

Sue put her fingers in the water

and twinkles skipped across the surface.

You know what?

Sue loved the idea of the twinkle factory.

I lent her my telescope and she gazed out at the distant sea.

I think one of those twinkles out there is our rockpool's twinkle.

Ernie and I smiled.

She was probably right.

"You know what else that telescope is good for?" I said.

-Playing pirates!

-"Playing pirates!" said Ernie.

You can't catch me!

-Arr, me hearties!

-Land ahoy!

And we played pirates on the beach...

Arr, I'll be lookout!

..until the tide started to come in and cover the rockpool

like a great seaweedy blanket.

Well, what do YOU think?

Do the twinkles on the sea come from a twinkle factory?

Maybe.

Who knows?

SALTY BARKS

So, why don't you join us for some more Rockpool Tales next time?

Goodbye.